FRVelion Recommendation: How to Choose the Right Coolant for Your Car

For different types of vehicles, different types of engine coolants are used. A variety of coolants are categorized by color and name. Here are three main types of coolants –

Different Types of the coolant

  • IAT (Inorganic Additive Technology): This coolant is the “classic green antifreeze”. This is the only coolant which is used for decades and due to its short lifespan, it is fallen out of the favor. It only lasts 24,000 miles or last two years. IAT coolant is used in older vehicles.
  • OAT (Organic Acid Technology): This coolant is the “orange antifreeze”. Modern GM vehicles generally use organic acid technology coolant. This coolant only needs to change once every 5 years or 50,000 miles.
  • HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology): This coolant is the “yellow antifreeze”. This coolant is generally used in the Chrysler and Ford vehicles. It is also changed every 5 years or 50,000 miles.

Choosing the right Coolant for your Car

The best coolant for your car depends on the type of vehicle, place, and age of manufacture. For selecting the right coolant you should know your vehicles make & model and year. It is very important to choose the right coolant for our car as choosing the wrong the coolant can result in poor performance or the worse instant engine failure. Here FRVelion sharing some tips which you should consider while choosing the right coolant for your car –

Check the Manual

Your best resources for choosing the right coolant are nothing but your vehicle’s owner’s manual. If you do not have the manual you just need to visit your dealership and they will provide you the right coolant for your specific make & model.

Don’t Skimp

In the market, you will find some coolants which are very cheaper than the original automaker’s brand of coolants but you need to keep in mind that your investment is for the long run. Coolants help to protect your car engines from carrion and extreme temperature. Just a few extra dollars can help you to protect your expensive car and also from costly repair down the road.

Be Colour-blind

Coolants have different types of color, some are green, some are yellow and some are red and it’s even re confusing to make matters, there is overlap between the coolant types and color. For example, some HOAT and OAT coolants are both yellow, but mixing them can cause very serious engine problems. So, being color blind and look at the labels instead of colors.

Do not forget the water

FRVelion always suggests you read the bottle when you are changing the car’s coolant that the formula needs to be mixed with water or not. This is important to check because some types of coolants can directly be poured into the car’s system without any additive but some types of coolants are designed to be 50 / 50 mix with water.

Table 1: The Colours of the Coolant
Table 1: The Colours of the Coolant

What Happens to a Car without Coolant/Antifreeze

Coolants circulate through the engine of the car and maintain the correct working temperature of the different components. If your car ran out of the antifreeze/coolants on the road, you will be going to experience the following –

  • Abnormal temperature Gauge or Dashboard warning light – The first sign that will show your coolant is low is a dashboard warning sign or rising temperature gauge.
  • Automatic Engine cut off – In a modern car you will find features of automatic engine cut-off. This is designed in the car to prevent damage when the car engine starts to heat up due to the lack of the coolants.
  • Damage to engine components – if your car does not have the feature of automatic cut-off and you continue driving then you will risk damaging parts of the engine that are running too hot. Following are the parts of your car which may be affected due to the overheating failure –
    • Crank Failure
    • Cylinder head
    • Water pump
    • Cylinder and piston timing
    • Head gasket
    • Warped or bent connector rod

Final Words

According to the FRVelion, the best coolant for your car depends on the type of vehicle, place, and age of manufacture. For selecting the right coolant you should know your vehicles make & model and year. For choosing the right coolant for your car you should check the manual, don’t skimp just for few extra money, be color blind for choosing the right coolant, and also don’t forget to check if your coolant needs to mix with water or not.

Also, you need to fill the coolant on time as if your car ran out of the antifreeze/coolants on the road, you will be going to experience the dashboard warning lights and abnormal temperature gauge, automatic engine cut-off, serious damage to engine components. That is why FRVelion suggests you always check the level of the coolants for preventing your engine components from damage.